One Little Accident
by Ebony Dagger
Summary: Ashley Riehl is on a school trip away from home. A quick disagreement leads to a startling discovery and a whole new view on the world and all it takes is one little accident. Written on request for AidoRockz and being extended to a Fourshot.
1. An Unexpected Visit

Well, this is a oneshot for AidoRockz on request. It's a one-off, I think, but feel free to give me any other requests. Sorry it took so long to upload.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Knight or Ashley Riehl, would I be uploading on a _fanfiction_ site? :P

START

_**Ashley's POV**_

I rolled my eyes and stretched, still sitting on the bed with my laptop balanced precariously on my one knee, the other leg was stretched out in front of me, ending a little above the left knee.

My prosthetic leg was still attached of course, but feeling ended above the knee.

As I automatically went through the motions of saving my latest short story, my mind wandered back to those terrible days, the sickness, the loss of my hair, and then the loss of my leg.

Subconsciously, I reached up and touched the long brunette locks, as though to reassure myself that they were still there.

This was the reason I wrote stories, so I could escape my encumbered existence.

I wrote to escape, and so my stories were wild, reaching past the borders of supernatural into complete fantasy, inventing my own worlds, my own secret hideaways where no-one could get to me.

I was roused from my musings as a voice called me, high and irate, as though they had been trying to attract my attention for some time.

Or else, my roommate was just being her normal self, I amended as I discovered the source of my name, "Ashley, Ashley Riehl! For crying out loud, Ashley!"

Lazily, I rolled my eyes up to see my very irritated roommate flipping her overly-straightened blonde hair out of her eyes and checking her make up in a little compact mirror, "Yes, Faeces?" I answered politely, containing my grin as her face pulled into an unattractive scowl as she said, "God Ashley, get it right, it's Felicia, for the last time."

I smirked a little; the idiot didn't even realise I had just insulted her.

How blonde can you get?

Anyway..."What did you want me for, anyway?"

She propped one perfectly toned arm on a slender hip, "I came to tell you that we're going out soon, the teacher said we're going round Tokyo sightseeing in about an hour. Now..."

And with that, she picked up my prized possession, her old battered laptop, and promptly tossed it out of the window.

With an incoherent scream of fury building in my throat, I began to fling myself off the bed and hurl myself at Felicia, but stopped before I could do anything rash that might involve her injuring me or me injuring myself.

Instead, I stood stiffly and walked down the stairs to the front of the guesthouse, swearing viciously under my breath, expecting to find a pile of broken metal and plastic, a useless piece of junk.

On the contrary, I found a gorgeous young man, obviously not Japanese from his large aquamarine eyes and spiked blond hair, holding my laptop in one hand and looking amused as I approached him warily.

Suddenly I wished I had brought my glasses down so I could see him clearly, but, as always, I had been too lazy to wear them and they were still stuffed somewhere in my bag.

The young man raised the hand holding the laptop, and asked something or other in Japanese.

I was Canadian Ashley, who spoke about two words of Japanese, _Ohayo_ and _Arigato_, and my complete confusion must have shown on my face because he switched to perfect, if slightly accented English and asked again, "This is your computer?"

I nodded quickly, "Yeah. Thanks so much for getting it. It...uh, it fell out of the window." I tried a sheepish grimace to show how embarrassed I was and bit my lip before asking, "Please may I have it back?"

He shook his head slowly and smiled mischievously; again I wished I had brought my glasses out.

By now I was starting to get worried, "But...? I need it back. Please."

"No, sweetheart, if you want it, you must come with me." The man was smiling softly now, a smile I realised was gorgeously irresistible, sweet and naughty.

I brushed my long hair away from my face, wondering what to do.

He waved my laptop teasingly and said, "Come with me for ice-cream and I'll give you your laptop, ok?"

I rolled my eyes, so that was his game.

But I really needed that laptop, it was the most precious thing in the world to me...staring longingly at it, I nodded, "Yeah, alright."

_**Aidou's POV**_

Score!

She really was gorgeous, this little human girl whom I had ensnared.

At the beginning, I had been surprised when she hadn't immediately fallen under my charms, but after ice-cream I was positive she would.

She adjusted her blue rugby shirt, yanking the collar straight as she followed me to the nearest ice-cream parlour.

I frowned a little as I watched her walk, she had a steady, rolling gait, but she limped a little on her left side.

I wondered why that was, had she been in an accident at some point?

I would find out, sooner or later.

"So, how long are you in Japan for?" I asked smoothly, aware that the silence was beginning to become tense.

"Um...I'm on a school trip, so just a couple of weeks." She chewed a strand of her hair nervously and I wondered if she was worried that she would be missed.

"Are you supposed to be going somewhere this afternoon?"

She nodded, "Yeah, sightseeing around Tokyo."

I smiled, an opportunity had arisen, "Hey, you want to have the grand tour with me instead?"

She smiled a little regretfully, "I'd like to but they're expecting me back. We're leaving in an hour."

I smiled, "Well, I'm sure you can just be back at the hotel, sleeping maybe? Tired from the journey?"

I voiced the suggestions playfully, but really I was hoping she would jump at one of them.

I was curious about this girl and desperate to spend more time with her and to win her over.

Suddenly, she asked, "What's your name? I was just thinking, we're going out for ice-cream yet we don't know each other's names. I'm Ashley."

I bowed slightly, "Aidou Hanabusa."

"Pleased to meet you." she said formally.

I nodded and grinned, "Well Ashley-chan, what flavour of ice-cream do you prefer?"

She chewed her lip endearingly, "Hm...well I'm not going to be the chocolate cliché," she joked and I grinned, liking her sense of humour already as she continued, "Maybe...watermelon?"

I smiled, "The perfect choice, and I shall have chocolate and be totally cliché."

She laughed and I immediately liked the sound; it was light and melodic and beautiful, reminding me of a songbird.

I pushed my hair back, letting it fan out between my fingers and glint in the sunlight, a gesture which I knew girls found attractive, but Ashley barely seemed to notice.

I frowned internally, why wasn't this girl responding to me?

"You look deep in thought," a voice broke through my thoughts and I looked up to see Ashley standing in front of me, not much shorter than my five feet six inches.

She smiled, her head tilted endearingly to one side as I stood up straight and said evasively, "Mmhm, yeah. The ice-cream shop's there behind you."

As i'd hoped, she was distracted, turning and smiling, but not jumping up and down and squealing like any of the fangirls at Cross Academy, for which I was thankful.

In the ice-cream parlour, we ordered our ice-creams and I insisted on paying, though she protested fiercely, another thing I wasn't used to from girls.

After we had finished, we wandered back to her guesthouse, where she took her laptop from me and cradled it to her chest lovingly, then smiled up at me, "Thanks for the ice-cream, Aidou. Maybe we could do it again sometime. I'm free tomorrow; I think we have a day free to go shopping around Tokyo."

She shrugged and I reached out to give her a hug.

She shrank away at first, then realised that I wasn't going to release her until she let me hug her properly, and relaxed slightly, even going so far as to reach out with one arm and pat me on the back a couple of times before pushing me off and grinning, chirping, "See you then, Aidou Hanbusa."

And with that, she was gone, disappearing into the guesthouse and limping slightly up the stairs.

I pushed my hair back and berated myself internally, "What are you doing, Aidou?" I asked myself, shaking my head and turning to walk away.

_**Ashley's POV**_

_What are you doing, Ashley?_ I asked myself silently, wondering how crazy you had to be to go out with a guy you had met because your nutty roommate had thrown something out of the window.

Pretty crazy, I guessed, good thing that was me all over.

I pushed my hair back and turned my laptop on, praying that it want broken.

Thank goodness, the welcome screen flickered on and then went off again, blinking in and out of focus before the computer screen went completely blank and then burst into colour again.

I sighed and smiled, that was completely normal.

I glanced around, scanning quickly for signs of Felicia, then nodded and started typing, turning my brief encounter into a short story, in which Aidou was secretly a vampire and the reason he has put his head in his hands was because he could not resist the lure of my heroine's delicious, type O blood.

I sat back, smiling, then winced as my leg twisted and messed around with my prosthetic leg, wiping my hair back from my slightly sweaty forehead.

Normally I didn't really mind missing my leg, I had become accustomed to it, but it was at times like this that I regretted it, times when my mind was tired but my body wasn't and I needed to run.

I used to run for my school; despite the fact that I was one of the laziest people you would ever meet, I loved to run long-distance.

Instead, I tuned into my story, throwing myself into it and developing it mercilessly, utterly regardless of reality or whether it made sense.

I turned it into a flyaway romance, no semblance to reality, a beautiful Romeo and Juliet love story but throwing it completely into the supernatural realm.

About half an hour later I resurfaced, tired right through from the exertion I had put my character through.

I had almost killed her at one time and then had her recover slowly and had both the initial flare of romance and then the slow burn of love.

It was utterly ridiculous, and I knew I was being a hopeless romantic, but I loved it.

I sat back, smiling, my layered hair dangling into my eyes.

I knew that Aidou and I could never be an item, and I don't think I would want that, but we could be friends.

I yawned as Felicia came into the room and stood, arms akimbo, announcing loudly that, "We're going in five minutes. Old McKay said we're meeting downstairs, like, now."

I nodded, "Yeah, thanks."

Standing up, I bent down carefully to put my trainers on and stood up just as carefully, making sure not to let my knee buck.

I made my way downstairs, grabbing my light jacket on the way.

It was a warm day, sunny and totally Japanese.

I tied my hair back in a high ponytail and slipped my camera out of my pocket, pausing in the doorway to snap a photograph of the gorgeous blue sky and Tokyo skyline stretching high into the air.

I joined the group of 25 other students, all buzzing with excitement, and followed a little behind the group, drinking in the sights of the city I had been dying to visit for forever.

I took photos left, right and centre, following loosely behind my group and suddenly I spotted a flash of bright blond hair, a gleam of aquamarine eyes, and realised that it was the boy from earlier, Aidou Hanabusa.

He had already spotted me, I could tell by the familiar way he tilted his head and smiled at me, and then he made his way through the crowds towards me.

I smiled at him and raised my camera, wanting to record his handsome face.

He smiled dazzlingly and I grinned back, suddenly slightly conscious of my untidy hair and lack of make up.

I'd never felt like this before, conscious of the way I looked.

I shifted slightly on my feet and suddenly my prosthetic leg gave way, folding beneath me.

I tried to shift my weight, to adjust myself so I could fall without dislodging my leg completely.

But I never hit the ground.

My eyes were squinted shut so I didn't see Aidou move, but he must have been quick to move the couple of feet towards me and catch me.

I felt the ground disappear completely from beneath my feet.

I opened my eyes, squinting, but the sun was being blocked out by the shape of Aidou's head, which held a worried expression as he asked, "Hey, what happened? You okay, Ashley?"

I thought about it, and then nodded, "Yeah. Um…do you want to go somewhere away from my school?"

He smiled, "Yes, I'll take you to my place."

I was a little hesitant but I really didn't want to explain what and who to my schoolmates so I agreed, albeit a little tentatively.

He carried me to a small house a little outside of the city.

Though I moaned and complained that I was perfectly able to walk, he simply smiled and shook his head.

He entered through a sliding door and I gasped, amazed at the luxurious room in which I found myself.

A comfortable chaise longue covered in ornate cushions sat by one window, and Aidou set me down there before sitting at me feet, curling comfortably like a cat and smiling like one who had got the cream.

I sighed, "I suppose you want to know what happened."

Aidou shook his head, "I would, but there's time, so whatever. You're pretty, you know that?"

He reached out to stroke my hair and I grinned, "You're such a flirt, Adiou-kun."

He looked slightly perturbed, then laughed, "Why aren't you fascinated and taken in by my charm? Grr, it's not right."

I stuck my tongue out, "Yeah right. It's perfectly right. Before you ask, I couldn't get romantic with you, you're too much like the crazy best friend I never had."

He paused and raised an eyebrow, "Hmph."

I laughed out loud and, after a pause, so did he.

I reached out and raised my hand for a high five and he slapped it, hard.

I stuck my tongue out, "Don't try and injure the cripple."

He stopped short, "Cripple?"

I nodded, "Yeah, that would be the reason I randomly fell over. My balance isn't _always_ that bad you know."

"Really?" he questioned.

I spluttered indignantly, "Yes really." Then I paused, "Well, most of the time."

He laughed, then asked, "So…I'm asking again, cripple?"

I winced, "Yeah, I have a…prosthetic leg."

He shrugged, "Okay, thanks for telling me, but you're not a cripple, you know."

I was confused, "I'm confused."

"Well, I reckon a cripple is someone who thinks like a cripple, like, I _can't do such and such because I'm crippled_. But you, I mean, this is a school trip, you're from America, right?"

"Canada, actually, but yeah." I was starting to see where this was going.

"So, you're here, you didn't think _Oh no, I can't do this because I've got a prosthetic leg_. So, you're not a cripple."

I raised an eyebrow at his thinking, but then smiled, realising he was right.

Pushing his hair out of his eyes, I hugged him awkwardly and he kissed me on the forehead.

I pushed back and raised the other eyebrow, "We might have to work on this whole human contact thing. I'm not generally very good at it."

I trailed off with a very embarrassing, girly shriek as he grabbed me around the waist and swung me around the room, off the chaise longue, into the air.

He laughed joyfully and set me down, grabbing my hand, "Come on," he said excitedly, "I'm going to introduce you to a couple of my friends."

I shrugged, "Sure."

_**Aidou's POV**_

I shoved the sliding door shut behind us and grabbed her hand.

I realised I hadn't asked Ashley how she had lost her leg but maybe that was a discussion for later.

I shoved a hand through my hair and attempted to predict Kaname-sama's reaction to my suggestion.

My proposition was going to be to tell her the truth.

He would be seriously, majorly opposed to it, but I was hoping to talk him into it.

By bringing Ashley with me, that also put pressure on the pureblood.

I was desperately hoping he didn't kill her, or injure me.

If he did, I wasn't sure what my reaction would be.

Even though I'd known Ashley for only a day, I realised that I now counted her as a close friend, one who would be close to me for some time.

Impulsively, I turned around and hugged her, eliciting a muffled squeal of surprise as she pushed me away and said, "You know, Aidou, you are completely crazy."

I nodded complacently, "I know."

She smiled and I grinned with her, ruffling her ponytail until she pulled away, scowling and protesting.

Three figures loomed tall in the gloom, Kain, Kaname and even Shiki looked taller in the dim light.

I felt Ashley stand her ground next to me, tall and slender, stretching her elegant neck to give her more height.

The three figures bowed to the two of them and Ashley and I returned the gesture.

Her ponytail swung back as she stood straight, green-grey eyes shimmering in the dim light.

_**Ashley's POV**_

I was worried and trying not to bite my lip as we stepped over the threshold of this new building.

The furniture and decoration in this house was heavier than in Aidou's, lots of dark mahogany wood, long sofas and small tables scattered around.

Three tall figures stepped forwards, avoiding the harsh beams of sunlight that cut the darkness as the middle height one spoke, "Aidou. What brings you here?"

I looked cautiously at Aidou, who's normally pale face was now chalky and even his normally vivid hair seemed to dull and wilt.

Aidou spoke, "I want permission to tell her, Kaname-sama."

Brown eyes appeared in the gloom, shining suddenly red, "Aidou. Why now?"

Aidou seemed to be squaring his shoulders, "Because I've met my match, Kaname-sama, and I want to tell her."

The one called Kaname sighed and nodded, pushing his hand through his long hair and suddenly looking older than his appearance of eighteen or nineteen years.

He acquiesced with a tired nod and then dismissed us with a sharp gesture.

Aidou grabbed my hand, and I was surprised to feel that his was cool and a little clammy.

We went outside and walked fast for a little while, until I was out of breath and on the verge of complaining, but then Aidou swung around to face me and we found a bench to sit down on, in the shade of some huge oaks.

And then he started to talk, explaining everything.

Hours later, we left the secluded glade, holding hands and ready to face the world.

A world I now knew held all sorts of supernatural creatures that I had only dreamed of.

A more dangerous, exciting world, where every day would be an adventure.

END

This fanfiction was written for AidoRockz.

Please review, as always.

Flames will be burnt in the eternal hell of flamers

Thank you for reading

~ Ebony ~


	2. Vampire!

Yeah, I know I said it was a oneshot, but…hey, I got requests for a sequel, and I thought I'd oblige, despite the fact that it's…uh, several months late, has been re-written three or four times, posted and then taken down and rewritten again. .

Disclaimer: I still don't own Vampire Knight or Ashley.

* * *

_**Ashley's POV**_

I reclined on my bed, wondering when I would see Aidou again.

There were only five or six days left of my trip, and though he knew perfectly well where to find me, I had no address to find him, and though I had sneaked out a couple of times to try and find that house we had visited, I hadn't been able to.

Deep inside, that made me a little glad, because I wasn't sure if I wanted to meet that scary man with the face of a child again. Kaname-sama.

The air he had seemed somehow menacing, and I didn't want to experience that again in the near future.

Suddenly, Felicia walked, or rather twitched, into the room.

I swear if that girl moved her hips any more, she'd dislocate something.

"Yo, Ashley. There's, like, a really hot guy standing outside. He's totally asking everybody if they've seen you. Who is he? Is he, like, available? And, hey, wasn't that, like that dude you disappeared with on, like, the tour afternoon and, like, went off and the teacher was all like, mad?"

I mentally translated that into English and deleted all the 'likes', sighed and ignored the last two questions, standing carefully and walking past her with a curt, "Thank you, Faec—Felicia."

"Hey, like ohmigod, you got my name right!" She squealed.

I rolled my eyes, "Yup. See you later."

I stepped out into the once-again, blinding sunshine, and smiled as Aidou ran towards me and hugged me, actually lifting me clear of the ground as he swung me round.

"Can't—breathe. Put me down—idiot." I gasped, and felt a laugh rumble through his chest.

He placed me carefully on the ground and I grinned up at him, mussing his hair and laughing as he complained.

"So, how come you're here? Need help with your Kaname-sama?" I asked jokingly.

But at the mention of the dark-haired boy, Aidou paled and he shook his head quickly, "No. But I figured maybe we could go for a walk or something. Shopping, if you wanted to?"

I mentally checked the amount of yen I had left and chewed my lip, it wasn't a huge budget, but it would cover ice-cream or maybe a coffee and a couple of souvenirs.

I smiled and nodded at Aidou, "Yeah, sure."

So we wandered off into the town centre, where we found a small cafe. Aidou pursed his lips and then said, "Hm, you know, I don't feel like sitting inside, I mean it's such a glorious day outside. Shall I go and get drinks and we can go and sit somewhere or take a walk?"

I nodded, then struggled to retrieve my purse from my pocket and hand it over so Aidou could pay out of my money but he waved it away when the black cat-shaped purse came into view, "Iye, Ash-chan, it's okay, I'll pay."

"N-no." I tried to protest but he was already gone, moving with, what I saw now, vampire-speed, darting quickly inside the shop and getting into the queue, which was so short that he was at the front and ordering drinks before I could so much as take a breath and start to step forward.

This could prove to be a very irritating trait, I thought, folding my arms and carefully shifting my weight between my legs as I waited for Aidou.

Suddenly Felicia walked, or rather twitched, along the street towards me, arm in arm with a very good-looking boy that I recognised instantly. Kaname-sama. What was he doing here? I felt my eyes widen as I searched frantically for a place to hide, but it was too late, they approached me and Felicia smirked at me, as if to say _Mine's hotter than yours_.

I nodded regally to them both and looked into the distance, inviting them to keep on walking and not stop at all.

Backing up to stand in the shade of a tall, run-down building, I waited and wondered how long it took to buy a couple of coffees. All of a sudden something hit me hard in the back. My first thought was that I was standing next to a building, there was nothing that could have managed to get behind me unless...vampire?

All this went through my mind as I tumbled forwards and, as I looked up, a church caught my eye, the heavy wooden cross standing out on the top of the spire. I flung myself into the street towards it, almost knocking a couple of small kids over and earning dirty looks all around from the Japanese people wandering around, but I avoided them all and kept running until I hit the door of the church fell inside and then, finally, my leg gave way completely and I fell to the floor with a nasty crack of metal and skin hitting stone.

I pushed my hair out of my eyes, wiping away the couple of stray tears that had escaped from the pain of my knee hitting the floor. Checking my prosthetic leg was still in an suitable condition to walk on, I stood slowly, painfully pulling myself up on the of the pews and looking around, wondering whether or not vampires really couldn't enter churches. Well, if that had even been a vampire that had hit me, I'd soon know. Glancing up, I saw a balcony which is where the bells must be rung from and nodded to myself.

Then I glanced up again and my eyes widened. There was someone up there. Immediately I chastised myself; it was probably some innocent altar server cleaning bells or some such chore and no, it was not a vampire crawling around in the form of a bat or something equally stupid. Just to convince myself, I looked up again, looking for bats in the belfry and smiling. But then the smile tightened and disappeared as I realised there was someone on the wall, literally, on the wall, climbing up it as though it was a ladder.

My eyes went wide and I kept my eyes on it, realising it was female, or at least that's what the long hair and slender body indicated. Keeping my eyes on it I backed slowly towards the door but, as I blinked, the second I opened my eyes she was right in front of me. I screamed, full-throated, and tried to jerk away, but she wasn't having any of it, locking one hand around my throat and lifting me off my feet to pin me back against the wall with a painful crack that sent stars spinning in front of my eyes.

I realised she was speaking in harsh, whispery Japanese, but I couldn't understand it, except one word, again and again; death.

I shook my head as best I could with it pressed against the cold stone wall behind me. I tried to kick her with my good leg but she grabbed my ankle and twisted until something cracked and she grinned grotesquely as pain shot through me and a mangled scream forced its way from between my gritted teeth. And suddenly another vampire was there, a blur of movement and blond hair. Aidou.

The vampire; she must be one of those out-of-control Level E ones, I realised distantly as I slid down the wall to crumple in a heap at the bottom, flung herself at Aidou and, though my throat was raw and my ankle definitely broken, I threw myself to my feet and into the fray, hoping to give Aidou even the slightest advantage. I punched the female vampire in the face and felt cartilage shatter as her nose broke under my bruising knuckles. Blood spurted and she shrieked so loudly I had to fall back to cover my ears. Aidou took that opportunity to somehow send a wave of ice that covered her body and then shattered, leaving her in bloody pieces on the floor.

I tried not to look at the rapidly melting remains of the vampire, instead focussing on Aidou's face as he rushed over to where I had crumpled when I tried to put weight on my ankle. Glancing soberly at the injury, he picked up my foot quickly, ignoring my smothered gasp of pain and rolling the leg of my jeans up to my knee before pulling my sock down. It was already swelling badly and somehow didn't look right, as though there was bone sticking out somewhere it shouldn't. Without another word, Aidou scooped me up in his arms and began to run. As fast as he could. Which, for a vampire, is pretty damn fast.

I closed my eyes like a complete wuss and tried to ignore the sick, throbbing pain the motion was inspiring in my ankle, knowing there was no alternative. Far too quickly for humans to see, we were back at Aidou's house on the outskirts and he was laying me on the very same chaise longue as before and calling for Kaname.

Fear coursed through me at the sound of the name but then I remembered I had seen him in town and relayed the message to Aidou, who cursed and yelled at the top of his voice, "Kain-kun!"

Kain wandered lazily in from the next room and yawned, "What's up, Aidou?"

Aidou gestured impatiently towards me, "Broken ankle. I need Kaname here because I can't help heal her."

Kain rolled his eyes, "Why not just take her to a human hospital?"

Aidou stopped short, looking blank, as though the idea had never even crossed his mind, "Oh...maybe. But what if they ask what happened?"

I spoke up then, "So then I tell them I tripped over a loose cobble and landed badly."

Aidou grinned quickly, but then suddenly the door slid open and Kaname walked into the room. Silence reigned but he seemed to quickly appraise the situation and said to Kain and Aidou, "Leave us, please."

Aidou looked about to protest but was silenced when Kain grabbed his arm and half-walked, half-dragged him from the room. Kaname approached me and I set my expression, determined not to so much as tremble in his intimidating presence. I told myself that I was not afraid of this man, vampire or no. To my surprise, he knelt before the chaise longue I was sitting on and gripped my ankle in a clinical manner before glancing up at me, "If I give you blood, it will heal far faster, but are you willing?"

From the respect bordering on reverence that Aidou treated this man with, I was sure that this was a great gift, not to be refused lightly, so I considered it carefully before asking, "What would the consequences be?"

He shook his head, "None, so long as you remain human, but if you were severely damaged and might die, you would turn to a Level E and we would be forced to extinguish you."

I considered it; what were the risks of my dying on this trip? Before today, i would have said very small, but after the events of this afternoon, I was not so sure...

I nodded, "Yes please. I would be honoured to accept your—blood." I hesitated slightly on the word, but choked it out anyway. He nodded and seemed almost to smile for a second, before biting into his wrist with long fangs and proffering his bleeding wrist. I hesitated but then fastened my lips across the spreading bloodstain, drinking in the disgusting, salty-tasting fluid. I almost gagged once or twice, but kept drinking until he said in a low voice, "Stop."

I looked up at him and wiped my mouth on my sleeve, whilst he licked the two small puncture wounds and they healed almost immediately.

"Ashley-chan." Kaname addressed me directly for perhaps the first time and I blinked at him in surprise, "Yes, Kaname-sama?"

"You will not tell anyone of this, and you will always remember the favour I have granted you here today, understood?"

I nodded.

"You will also remember the dangers vampires present to humans and therefore from this moment, if you have contact with Aidou, you will never meet him alone, you will always contact either myself or one of my associate vampires. I will give you contact details for them in a moment. Also, if you wish to return to Japan, you will first contact us, yes?"

Another quick nod and he said, "Alright, you may leave. Aidou will escort you back to your residence and I would wish that you do not contact him for the remainder of your visit here."

I nodded; somehow, 'I wish' seemed more of an order than a request, but this vampire scared me too much for me to challenge him, plus if he killed me right here and now, I wouldn't die, I'd just become vampiric, so it was no ski off his nose and not too much paperwork..."Yes Kaname-sama. Thank you very much for everything you've done for me."

* * *

Later that day, as Aidou walked me back to the residence, we talked over what had been discussed and Aidou grinned as he gave me his email address and I gave him mine, promising to add me on msn. We hugged and said our final goodbyes outside the residence and he pecked me lightly on the forehead, telling me to take care of myself.

I raised an eyebrow and returned with the same thing.

And so my not-quite vampire, but not-quite human life restarted, and I walked in to start yet another story about it.

* * *

_**Normal POV**_

Kaname watched the pair leave with hooded eyes.

Then he moved a pawn on the ever-present chessboard sitting in the desk in front of him, positioning it diagonal to an opposing black rook, "Game on, Ichijou."


	3. Return

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or Miss Ashley, though I wish I did, they go well together :3

*Grovel grovel* I'm sorry it's late. It has been rewritten twice because my computer decided it had a grudge against this particular file. Then exams, then a new collaborative fiction was begun ...all in all, I just have no t had time. It's not a long chapter, but it is in two parts, so enjoy.

* * *

I rolled my eyes as I woke up from yet another dream concerning vampires munching on my neck and sat up in my bed in Canada. I sighed, rubbing my neck. I had to go back. What was that word all those quack psychologists used? Settling? Closing? Something along those lines anyway…

I shook the thought from my mind and tumbled out of bed, attaching my prosthetic leg with practised fingers and shaking my hair out of my eyes. I'd had it cut since Japan, and now the chin-length strands floated around my head first thing in the morning so I resembled Sonic the hedgehog, or so my dad had playfully told me the morning after I'd had it shorn.

I sighed and wondered what to do today.

Breakfast would be a good start, and since it was the holidays now, in the middle of August, I didn't have a huge amount to do since I didn't have any homework to do. Well….I probably did, but I wasn't planning on doing it until the last day of the holidays.

Walking carefully along the hallway, avoiding the corner of the rug that I always managed to trip over, I hit the kitchen and checked in the cupboard. No cereal, so I grabbed a couple of slices of bread and shoved them in the toaster, then hit the kettle for coffee, glancing at the clock.

I stopped in my tracks; it was past two in the afternoon. I had never been a morning person but since my return from Japan and my rather disastrous encounter with an insane Level-E, it had been getting harder to get up at seven in the morning for school and once the holidays had started I'd been waking up later and staying up later as a consequence.

My parents hadn't really noticed, just put it down to me being a teenager and crashing out after a long term of school. The kettle clicked off and I dumped hot water on the milk and coffee mixture, drinking it straight down, even as it scalded my throat slightly. I was so…_thirsty_.

Walking to the cupboard, I grabbed a glass and filled it with coke, drinking that down as well. I'd always drunk a lot but this seemed different. Maybe it had something to do with…Kaname and his impromptu blood donation a few months back. Well, better safe than sorry.

Striding back down to my room, I ruffled through the debris in my purse, spilling old train tickets and receipts onto my bed covers before I found the small black card Aidou had pressed into my hand the second before I stepped onto the plane. I remembered the look on his face as he'd said, "Look, call me any time, for anything, and I'll be there, alright?"

Grabbing my phone, I typed the number in quickly and pressed the call button, holding it to my ear with my shoulder as I refilled my purse with the stuff on my bed. It rang twice and then a bright voice trilled, "Moshi moshiiii." down the line, making me smile unconsciously.

"Hey Aidou. It's Ashley, remember me?"

"Of course, how could I forget?" came the bouncy reply.

I winced and got straight to the point, spilling out my worrying symptoms, "Um…I think I might be having a reaction to Kaname's blood. I'm sleeping later, finding it incredibly hard to get up and sunlight's starting to irritate my eyes if I'm out in it too long. Also, I'm constantly thirsty. I'm drinking about eight litres of liquid a day."

Silence from Aidou, then, in a small voice, "…Ash-chan?"

Dreading the answer, I answered, "Yes?"

"I-I think you're having a reaction to Kaname's blood. You're turning into a Level C vampire, like half human. Your reactions are going to get worse. You need to get to Japan somehow. Within a month."

I gaped, "What? How in the holy hell do you expect me to swing that? I'm skint and trying to save for university!"

He huffed down the phone, petulant child as always, "Ash-chan, you may not be going to university if your transformation goes wrong or completes, because you'll either turn revenant or not be able to stand sunlight."

I sighed and heard the front door slam and my mum's voice calling, "Honey, are you up yet? I'm home! There's something I wanted to talk to you about, and your dad too."

I whispered into the phone, "I'll call you back later, okay?"

Aidou huffed but said bye cheerfully enough and I snapped my phone shut and strode down the hall, saying as I walked into the kitchen, "Hey mum, how are you doing?"

She heaved heavy shopping bags onto the table and I started unpacking them and putting the food away in the cupboards, wondering how to approach another trip to Japan. If this was as serious as Aidou believed, I could be encountering some serious problems relatively soon. Setting my lips in a grim line, I closed the fridge door on the last of the teetering bottles of milk and turned to her, "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

A massive grin appeared on her face as she started slowly, "I know you really enjoyed Japan and made some good friends, so how would it be if I said you could go back, for at least a month?"

Fear and excitement bubbled up inside me and I couldn't stop a grin stretching across my face at the prospect of seeing Aidou and Kain again, but my heart twisted sickeningly at the mere thought of Kaname's blank russet eyes, "When would this be?" I tried to infuse my voice with as much excitement as was possible and must have succeeded, for Mum's face lit up and she returned the smile.

"Um, well work is transferring me there for some business opportunities so it would be in the next week or so. I know it's short notice but we've just had this great opportunity with a buyer's offer, so they want someone there as quickly as possible, to get there first."

I nodded eagerly, "Would I be staying with you or will work only pay for one person's accommodation, same as usual?"

Mum rolled her eyes, "Hit the nail on the head right there, honey. But I want you to stay with someone you've known, not in an anonymous hotel room, okay? What if you have an accident or something and can't get to a phone. Or what if—"

I cut her off in mid-flow, saying gently, "Mum, calm down. Aidou's been bugging me to come back and he's always saying I can stay at his place. He has loads of room. It's practically a mansion!"

Mum nodded and breathed out slowly, then glanced at me sideways, "Go and pack your things, then. I've called your Dad and he said we can leave as soon as we like, he can just contact all his customers within the next twenty-four hours."

Since Dad was self-employed, it was a lot easier for him to take leave on short notice, but..."He won't be able to take a whole month off work, will he? Especially in peak season."

Mum shook her head, "No, honey, but he will come with us for two weeks to make sure we're okay."

I shrugged; that was fine by me, and went to pack some clothes. An hour later we were in full packing madness, yelling through the house, "Mum? You haven't seen my green t-shirt, have you? The one with stripes on it?"

"No honey, are you sure it isn't shoved in the bottom of your wardrobe?"

Five minutes later, embarrassed, I yelled, "Yep, found it. Thanks Mum."

And so we were off, a week later, standing in the overheated, stuffy airport with all the other holidaymakers, passports clutched in sweaty palms, me sitting on my suitcase because my prosthetic leg was giving me blisters and hurt like hell.

Our plane finally rolled in and we crowded on, baggage claims taking up too much time, and suddenly, we were off, once again, to my favourite set of islands, which held my least favourite person...


End file.
